The Israeli bombs that slammed into the Lebanese village of Qana yesterday did more than kill three dozen children and a score of adults. They struck at the core of U.S. foreign policy in the region and illustrated in heart-breaking images the enormous risks for Washington in the current Middle East crisis.

With each new scene of carnage in southern Lebanon, outrage in the Arab world and Europe has intensified against Israel and its prime sponsor, raising the prospect of a backlash resulting in a new Middle East quagmire for the United States, according to regional specialists, diplomats and former U.S. officials.

Well, those "regional specialists, diplomats and former U.S. officials" could well have talked about how disastrous the Lebanon crisis is to U.S. foreign-policy interests, but the implication here that it is undercutting current U.S. foreign policy ("Bush's long-term goals"?!) not only is pure bullshit but can only have come from the neocon psychopaths who got us into the Iraqi quagmire or their apologists.

The strategy is as transparent as it is dishonest: See, it's not our fault that Iraq is all effed up! It's just these darned things that keep happening, things that are beyond our control!

Of course, an excellent argument can be made that the emboldening of Hezbollah is an indirect, or maybe even direct, result of our cosmic blundering in the Middle East, by turning most of the world against Israel and ourselves and at a markedly higher level of potential violence, and by emboldening Iran to challenge U.S. power, like by encouraging its Hezbollah clients to make trouble.

But instead, you see, the neocon wackjobs, who apparently still have no clue what went wrong with our Iraq adventure, are apparently promoting the line that our policy there would be a glorious success if not for (sigh) all these mysterious setbacks. To use one of the most popular ass-covering phrases in Bushworld--now, it appears, trying desperately to cover the world's biggest ass: "Who could have foreseen?"

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July 31st, 2006 - WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE) delivered the following statement on the Senate floor today regarding the current situation in the Middle East:

“Mr. President, The Middle East is a region in crisis. After three weeks of escalating and continuing violence, the potential for wider regional conflict becomes more real each day. The hatred in the Middle East is being driven deeper and deeper into the fabric of the region...which will make any lasting and sustained peace effort very difficult to achieve. How do we realistically believe that a continuation of the systematic destruction of an American friend, the country and people of Lebanon, is going to enhance America’s image and give us the trust and credibility to lead a lasting and sustained peace effort in the Middle East? The sickening slaughter on both sides must end now. President Bush must call for an immediate cease fire. This madness must stop.

The Middle East today is more combustible and complex than it has ever been. Uncertain popular support for regime legitimacy continues to weaken governments of the Middle East. Economic stagnation, persistent unemployment, deepening despair and wider unrest enhance the ability of terrorists to recruit and succeed. An Iran with nuclear weapons raises the specter of broader proliferation and a fundamental strategic realignment in the region, creating more regional instability.

teach...dem leadership is awol! The chicken shits are afraid to speak. We put them in office and now you can see what we got for it. Empty shells. Ted Kennedy would never run for office and he and Feingold are all there is to the opposition and we already know how much the dem party supports a guy like Feingold who called for ..... YIKES ..... CENSURE! EWWWW, SCARY CENSURE! The dems are acting as if there is no urgency, that we dems will punch a vote for them in August no matter what. Screw that man. No dem will see my vote unless they open their mouths and call on the people of this nation to grow a backbone and start fighting against republican neoconfascism!